Why Colour Management is Essential for Your Business
What is "colour management"?
“Colour management” is a process where the colour characteristics for every device in the imaging chain is known precisely and utilized in colour reproduction.
Read on to discover why colour management is of importance to your business.
Nowadays companies are showcasing their brands everywhere: on buses, banners, posters, signs, exhibit graphics, apparel, and decals, usually with the help from more than one print-shop, and almost always with production from several different types of printing technology. The result is that print-shop providers are often being tasked with matching colour from commercially printed pieces, or from other printers’ digitally printed pieces. Trying to achieve a shared visual appearance between products printed on different media with different printers can be challenging. That’s where good colour management can make all the difference.
Previously, each time a printing job was transferred from one device or type of printing to another the result was a broad range for any given colour.
Today, print technology manufacturers are working along with third parties and their own research teams to develop software, hardware and ink solutions that help bring consistency and accuracy to your colour prints.
The speed of innovation in colour management for digital printing has accelerated in the past five years, largely in response to demand from PSPs(print service providers) to imitate colours printed by lithography. One of the largest areas of advancement is in colour management software. The newest RIP(Raster Image Processor) solutions provide options like colour profiling, spot colour, and the ability to auto-generate special colour layers in white, metallic, gloss or primer, along with providing access to vast colour libraries. Additionally, many RIPs now have the ability to easily transfer colour values to other devices made by the same manufacturer.
Various print technology manufacturers are also offering hardware, such as hand-held spectrophotometers and densitometers that quickly translates colour swatches to printable colour data. The data is transferred from the device into the manufacturer’s RIP software, which locates the most approximate colour space for the output, resulting in the best possible shared visual appearance.
A final component of enhanced colour management is the evolution of inks. Manufacturers are offering more ink set options than ever, including new ink colours like orange and green that enlarge the available colour range and make it easier to obtain the colour consistency that clients are looking for.
Today’s digital printing colour management software, hardware, and ink options provide utmost colour consistency and guarantee the most accurate shared visual appearance from job to job, from printer to printer, and from proof to print.
Putting this advanced technology to work in your shop will make the colour management process much easier, faster and more accurate, and will keep your clients coming back for more.
- Kinsella
- Categories: Local Business
